Greg G. wrote:
> Neither would we be put to death, nor would unjust people, and demons,
> have any power over us, were it not for the fact that every one who is
> born must die, without exception. We are glad, therefore, when we are
> allowed to pay off this common debt.
>
> Justin, Second Apology 11.
>
And now I want to turn to the person who asserts or believes that we are
initiated by the murder and the blood of a little child. Can you think it
possible that such a tender, tiny body should be gashed with mortal
wounds,
that anyone alive would slaughter a little baby hardly come into being, to
spill, drain, and drink its innocent blood? Nobody can believe such a
thing
unless he is capable of doing it himself. But I do see people among you at
times expose newly born children to wild beasts and birds and at other
times put them to death by strangling or by other horrible means. Some
women destroy the unborn child in their womb by taking drugs, thus
committing infanticide before they are delivered.
For us it is not permissible even to see or to hear of murder. Yes, we
shrink so much from human blood that we do not even use the blood of
animals in the food we eat.
Moreover, the rabble of demons has concocted the grandiose fable of
incestuous banquets against us to throw the mud of ugly shame upon the
good
name of our chastity. They tried, through the horror of these outrageous
opinions about us, to turn people away from seeking the knowledge of the
truth. Even Fronto, whom you cite, did not produce any evidence based on
affirmed testimony but simply gave vent to rhetorical abuse. The banquets
that we organize are as chaste as they are sober. We do not like sumptuous
eating, nor do we prolong our meals with drinking bouts. We know how to
temper our gaiety with seriousness.
Minucius Felix, Octavius 30.1, 2, 6; 31.1, 5.
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